MI: Code Willow (part 3)
by Cilia
Summary: The team closes in on the Ark, but run into a nasty surprise instead and Faith has an idea that will make the mission even more interesting


**Mission Impossible: Code Willow (part 3)**

…  
Location: Outskirts of Rome  
Time: 2:00 Zulu

Faith enjoyed her work very much and this was one of those missions where she really got to show of just why they had spent all those millions on her training. The first guard went down easily, not dead, but he'd wake up with a headache in a nice cell. The second was more fun and even gave a fight, if you could call those five seconds he remained standing that. The fact that the guards weren't more numerous didn't bother her too much, she had a job take out the perimeter and rig the place to blow.

"I love my job," she whispered with a grin as she opened the pack that carried the high explosives.

"Status," was whispered over the earpiece.

"Five by five Red…" she whispered back. "…and don't watch the professor's ass too much," she added before closing the link.

Not far away Willow glared into the radio's microphone, before motioning her team to follow her in. She'd kept her promise and armed the Professor with two semi-automatic handguns that had prompted a series of Lara Croft related jokes from Faith.

"This doesn't feel right Red," William whispered as they made their way towards the hangar.

"Maybe they're just sloppy," Elisabeth countered in a low voice.

"Doesn't matter, we've got a mission to finish one-way or the other," Willow whispered as she started to pick the lock leading into the hangar. "This doesn't feel right," she cursed when the door opened easily. Pushing the door carefully inwards, she heard the familiar sound of guns being cocked.

"Shit!" she muttered as she they dove to the side of the door and came up behind a stack of loading grates. Bullets filled the space where they had been standing less then a second later and the door slammed shut.

"Professor you okay," she asked and then bent down as a hail of bullets flew over their heads.

"Never been better," the Professor muttered as she checked her guns.

"William?" she asked and her answer was gunfire from where the other agent had landed.

"Guys what's going on," Faith shouted over the radio. "They're opening the hangar doors."

"We've been ambushed Faith. We'll try to ground the plane inside the hangar, but don't let it get of the ground understood. It can't leave the ground!" Willow shouted before popping up and firing.

"Five by five," Faith exclaimed and the link went dead.

"I sure hope that girl doesn't get herself killed," Elisabeth said and stood up and fired.

"You've done this before?" Willow asked as she reloaded and ignored the bullets embedding themselves in the wall above her head.

"I play paintball on the weekends," Elisabeth answered as she released the clips. "William's crash course helped too," she added as one of the attackers went down.

"They're pulling out," William shouted as the plane started up.

"Where's our damned insider," Willow cursed before popping up and taking a few of their attackers down, there weren't that many she noted before ducking back behind the crate. No sooner had she spoken the words, and then gunfire and flashes of light could be seen through the windows of the plane.

"Guess that's him," Elisabeth commented as she slammed fresh clips into her guns.

"William see that ramp?" Willow asked into the radio and the vampire nodded at her from where he crouched.

"Way ahead of you Red," Faith reported over the radio as she drove a boarding-ramp into the hangar, firing as she went.

"Faith I told you to stay outside!" Willow shouted into the microphone.

"This bird isn't getting of the ground," the specialist reported with a grin as a series of explosion rocked the ground. "Now that the runway looks like Swiss cheese," she said the ramp came to a stop.

"Hey they've stopped firing, or there is nobody left," Elisabeth noted as the plane's hatch opened and a man came running out onto the ramp shouting in a very polished British accent.

"Run you fools!" as he past the ramp-car and practically pulled Faith with him.

"Red I'd listen to the man," William said as he dove for the hangar bay doors.

"Why?" Willow shouted into the microphone.

"Cause we weren't the only ones to rig this place to blow," Elisabeth said as she wrinkled her nose at the smell of petrol.

"Shit!"Willow shouted as she went for the door they had come in through, while pulling the professor with her. Finding the door blocked, which prompted more cursing from Willow, they both turned to the now closing hangar bay doors, somebody had done they're work very well. Crossing the hangar with speed prompted by a sudden, but welcomed, flow of adrenaline they both dove through the narrow opening between the doors. Coming out of their tumble running they were thrown to the ground by the blast of the explosion.

"Professor you alive?" Willow asked as she raised herself up.

"Afraid so," Elisabeth answered with a sigh. They both got up slowly and observed the burning hangar and in the distance they could hear sirens.

"Need a lift," the polished British accented voice asked.

"Rupert?" Elisabeth asked as they got into the car.

"Hello Betty," the Watcher greeted.

…  
Location: Rome safehouse  
Time: 4:00 Zulu

"The Ark wasn't on board, so it must still be under the city somewhere," Willow muttered as she busied herself with the maps of the labyrinth system of tunnels and catacombs that crisscrossed the city. Faith was sleeping on the couch, while William was tending to the equipment, but every now and then his eyes drifted over to Faith's sleeping form. The Watcher, or Rupert as Elisabeth had called him, was making the coffee.

"Maybe they were expecting us to be on board when it blew?" Elisabeth suggested. "We were planning on doing something similar, so if we had been on board, your boss would have thought we'd accomplished the mission."  
"Perhaps, but how could they have known we were coming?" Willow pondered and drew a line on the map.

"Maybe they didn't, maybe we just showed up and like Rupert said they had everything on board to make it look like the Ark was destroyed," the professor countered.

"Well, no matter how things go screwed up tonight, I've isolated possible areas where they could be hiding the Ark, but it's still too big," Willow sighed and threw the ruler away. " So onto other business. How to you know the Watcher?" she asked.

"Rupert, if that is his real name, was part of a team that got me and group of archeologists out the Balkans when the war started and we found us stuck in the mountains," Elisabeth answered.

"That was a while ago and sorry to say you don't look old enough," Willow said.

"Why thank you," Elisabeth said with a smile. "I was student at the time and we were looking for an old nazi storage facility reportedly build there during World War Two, "Elisabeth explained.

"And here I thought you specialized in ancient religious artifacts?" Willow asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… my profile doesn't say everything about me," Elisabeth answered with a secretive smile.

"That's not even the half of it," the Watcher said as he entered the living room with a tray filled with neatly arranged coffee mugs and scones. "Any progress?" he asked as he handed Willow her mug.

"Null," Willow sighed as she inhaled the aroma of the coffee, much better the sludge Faith made, perhaps they didn't train agents as extensively as in the past, since Rupert was definitely old school. Dressed in a tweet suite and with his graying hair kept at regulation length, he must have been the IM's poster boy in his heyday.

"They did show you the hiding place by any chance?" she asked as she sipped her coffee.

"Sadly no, I was only in charge of propping the plane for takeoff and I was supposed to be the co-pilot. Thank god for small miracles I say," Rupert answered as he reached into his pocket and fished out thin-rimmed glasses that he folded out and placed on his nose.

"The Vatican," Faith exclaimed as she woke up, startling William who'd been tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"We can go sightseeing after the mission Faith," Willow said absentmindedly.

"No. The Vatican guys, the catacombs run under there too don't they?" she asked.

"Yes but I don't see…" Rupert said as he studied the map."

"It's the perfect place, they run deep under there and it's closed of from tourists," she explained. "Check the map," she then urged.

"I think she's right," Elisabeth stated as she looked up from the map. "They could even use the Vatican's post system and it runs under most the compound and even a bit beyond," she explained.

"But come on! It's the Vatican for Pete's sake. I mean they've got to have somebody on the inside to pull this kind of stunt of," William pointed out.

"So who's up for a tour of the Vatican?" Willow asked.

"Why don't you take Elisabeth?" Rupert suggest before Faith could suggest the very same thing.

"So Betty ready to play tourist?" Willow asked with a grin that she was borrowing once again from Ethan. The professor merely sighed and nodded, dreading and looking forwards to what was in store, a mixed feeling at best.

to be continued...


End file.
